Key moments

video27.07.2014

Summary

Stage summary27.07.2014

Vincenzo Nibali is the winner of the 101st Tour de France, a race he led for eighteen days out of twenty-one. It's also the big return of French riders on the final podium with Jean-Christophe Péraud and Thibaut Pinot second and third respectively. The last stage on the Champs-Elysées went to Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) just like last year. The German outsprinted Alexander Kristoff in a spectacular final sprint on the Champs-Elysées.

interview27.07.2014

“Those past few days, when I was asked which one was my best moment of the Tour, I anticipated that no feeling of happiness could be compared to what we feel on the podium at the Champs-Elysées. It's even more beautiful than what I could imagine. I want to dedicate this victory to my team and my family. Hadn't I had my wife Rachele and my baby girl Emma on my side, hadn't I grown up as a young cyclist with parents like mines, I'm not sure I would have made it to here. I have felt such a...

interview27.07.2014

“I'm very happy to be once again on the podium of the Tour de France, for the third time in a row. I haven't won a stage but I'm satisfied with the green jersey. Every year is different. I'm happy with the form I had during this Tour. When I win, people say that I easily win but it's not true. This Tour has reminded everyone that I don't easily win bike races.”

The of the town27.07.2014

How was the first time ?27.07.2014

Barring disaster, Matthew Busche will finish his first Tour de France in 98th place, nearly 3 hours and 42 minutes behind Vincenzo Nibali and the American rider discovered in the last three weeks what makes the Tour the greatest race in the world.

Sporting stakes27.07.2014

This is the 40th stage finish of the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysées. Like most of his predecessors, Vincenzo Nibali underlined that the beauty of the Tour stands on the world's most beautiful avenue. Besides the celebrations of the overall win, the two Frenchmen on the podium, the honour roll, etc., there'll probably be one last bunch sprint finish as it's been the case in the last nine editions of the race. Marcel Kittel is a logical favourite. He already imposed himself in Paris...

Four riders in the lead with 36km to go: Porte (Sky), Morkov (Tinkoff), Serpa (Lampre) and Fonseca (Bretagne).

18:28

Péraud back in the pack

JC Péraud is back in the pack with 38km to go.

18:26

Top 10 letour.fr (10/10): Bardet devastated for two seconds

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Romain Bardet was in the top 3 as the race entered the Pyrenees. After losing time from his direct rival Thibaut Pinot in stage 16, he attacked the following day in the downhill of Val Louron. That was pure panache, as French people say. The 23 year old was terribly disappointed when he lost the fifth place overall to Tejay van Garderen because of a flat tyre with 2km to go into the time...

18:25

Péraud on his way back

JC Péraud is chasing hard to make his way back to the bunch, helped by three team-mates.

18:24

Voigt wins the last intermediate sprint

Result of the intermediate sprint at the Champs-Elysées (km 91)

1. Jens Voigt (Trek), 20 pts

2. Michael Albasini (Orica), 17 pts

3. Geraint Thomas (Sky), 15 pts

4. Luis Maté (Cofidis), 13 pts

5. Lars Bak (Lotto), 11pts

6. Lars Boom (Belkin), 10 pts

7. Chris Horner (Lampre), 9 pts

8. Sebastian Langeveld (Garmin), 8 pts

9. Luke Durbridge (Orica), 7 pts

10. Marcel...

18:22

Péraud crashes

Runner up Jean-Christophe Péraud went down with 43km to go as he slipped in a curve.

18:17

Reza back in the pack

Parisian rider Kévin Reza is back in the pack after puncture.

18:16

Jens Voigt on the attack

Jens Voigt, the oldest rider of the Tour, is away solo with 48km to go.

18:15

Top 10 letour.fr (9/10): Navardauskas avenges Bauer

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. The real depth of a team becomes obvious at difficult times. Following the withdrawal of their leader Andrew Talansky, Garmin-Sharp targeted the transition stages. They were close to make it in Nîmes but Jack Bauer was overtaken by the sprinters 25 metres away from the finishing line. It was cruel. Ramunas Navardauskas might have experienced the same scenario in Bergerac on stage 19 but a...

18:14

Reza punctures

Chavanel is caught. Kévin Reza (Europcar) has a flat tyre.

18:10

Chavanel on the move

Sylvain Chavanel is the first attacker on the Champs-Elysées.

18:08

On the Champs-Elysées

The bunched pack is on the Champs-Elysées led by the Astana team.

18:02

Top 10 letour.fr (8/10): Pinot on fire

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Thibaut Pinot has showed his climbing skills in all mountain stages behind untouchable leader Vincenzo Nibali. Only on stage 17 to the Pla d'Adet, he lost to Alejandro Valverde. But he made it up the day after as he rode away to finish second in style.

17:57

The Tour in Paris

The Tour de France arrives in Paris! Peloton led by Astana.

17:56

Chris Horner: "Happy to finish the Tour in the top 20"

Questioned by letour.fr, the second oldest contender Chris Horner who will turn 43 in October and is ranked 17th overall said: “I'm pretty happy to finish the Tour in the top 20 after having seen so many obstacles in front of me. I've had a big accident before the Tour, I was working for Rui Costa until he pulled out. Everything was falling apart. We had to race through the pavés. I've been sick during the Tour. I've had to get rid of the green phlegm in the lungs. Once I became sick, it...

17:48

Top 10 letour.fr (7/10): Rogers finally paid back!

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Michael Rogers never met glory in his previous nine participations to the Tour de France, although he's been tipped as one of the favourites in 2006 (9th but forced to work for team-mates Serhiy Honchar and Andreas Klöden) and 2007 (he crashed in the downhill of the Cormet de Roselend instead of taking the yellow jersey that was going to be his in Tignes). The sad exit of Alberto Contador...

17:44

Alexander Kristoff: "I'll be up there for sure"

Questioned by TV2 Norway ahead of the final stage, Alexander Kristoff who has won in Saint-Etienne and Nîmes said: “I have the feeling that the other sprinters fear me now but Kittel and Greipel are just as dangerous as I am. I felt good during the time trial. It'll be hard to win but my confidence is built on the great sprints I've done lately. I'll be up there for sure. Shall I win in Paris, it would make my Tour perfect.”

17:39

Top 10 letour.fr (6/10): Gallopin was hungry for more

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Tony Gallopin already made history in taking the yellow jersey for one day – the best day for a Frenchman, Bastille Day! But he suffered so much in the queen stage of the Vosges that he was hungry for more. On stage 11, he went on the attack again, not just once with 13.5km to go but twice as he knew he had no chance to win against Peter Sagan who was one of his breakaway companions....

17:38

Peter Sagan: "I still have an opportunity to win"

Questioned by letour.fr ahead of the final stage, Peter Sagan said: “My chance to win on the Champs-Elysées depends on my position in the last corner. If I take the curve in third place, I can win but it's a special sprint. On the flat, [Marcel] Kittel, [André] Greipel and maybe [Alexander] Kristoff are faster than me but since I haven't won a stage yet, I want to believe that I still have an opportunity in Paris.”

17:27

Top 10 letour.fr (5/10): Hunter put Talansky back on his bike

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Stage 11 wasn't supposed to be the most eventful but American team Garmin-Sharp made it spectacular. Andrew Talansky was on the edge of pulling out as his body was affected by two crashes in the first week of racing. It took a few minutes to his directeur sportif Robert Hunter to convince him to go back on his back. The winner of the Critérium du Dauphiné eventually did so and reached...

17:23

Top 10 letour.fr (4/10): Courageous Contador

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Alberto Contador looked ready to challenge Nibali in the mountains, starting with La Planche des belles filles on stage 10. But he crashed after 62km into the race. He rode for another twenty kilometres, including the ascent to the col du Platzerwasel, until he told his team manager Bjarne Riis that he couldn't make it. He had a broken tibia...

17:04

Top 10 letour.fr (3/10): Martin wrote the mountains off

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Stage 9 to Mulhouse suited the attackers. Tony Martin turned it into a 60km individual time trial, regardless of the mountains. He rode over the Markstein and the Grand Ballon as if it was a flat terrain.

16:55

32.2km in the first hour

32.2km have been covered in the first hour. It's a moderated speed, according to the tradition of the last stage of the Tour de France until the peloton enters Paris.

16:54

Gruzdev first at côte de Briis-sous-Forges

Astana's Dimitri Gruzdev has passed the côte de Briis-sous-Forges in first position. He scored one KOM point. It's his first one. He becomes the 67th rider to take place in the KOM competition.

16:49

Ji Cheng: "The Tour de France is an amazing race"

Questioned by letour.fr ahead of the final stage, first Chinese cyclist to complete the Tour de France Ji Cheng said: “I don't know how it's gonna be on the Champs-Elysées but I expect today being an amazing day in my life. But firstly I'll have some work to do again. We hope for another bunch sprint victory in the team. Only after that, we'll be able to celebrate. I'm already thinking of next year. The Tour de France is an amazing race. I hope to have another chance to ride it. The first...

16:38

Top 10 letour.fr (2/10): Shark attack on the cobblestones

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Stage 5 on the cobbled roads of Paris-Roubaix was always going to be crucial. With absolutely no experience of racing on that terrain, Vincenzo Nibali who was leading the race since stage 2 showed his skills in handling his bike in difficult conditions. It was wet and muddy but he was at ease, just like in the downhills. He rode Alberto Contador off and distanced Richie Porte, Bauke...

16:36

115km to go

The peloton is located with 115km to go. There another 73km to cover before the peloton enters Paris.

16:15

Top 10 letour.fr (1/10): Froome... by car

To sum up the 101st Tour de France, letour.fr chose ten emotional moments of the three weeks of racing. Poor Froomey! The Kenyan-born winner of the 100th Tour de France was ready to defend his title despite having to ride on cobblestones on stage 5 but he didn't see them. He fell off the day before. He had a broken wrist but didn't make it public. He fell again before the cobbled sections. At km 83, he abandoned. In his team car, he didn't have any energy left, not even for taking his helmet...

15:53

The race is on

The start proper of the 21st and last stage has been given at 15.52

15:39

Time for Champagne!

Vincenzo Nibali is at the back of the pack, getting Champagne glasses for himself and his team-mates from the Astana team car.

15:32

AG2R's big victory!

AG2R-La Mondiale has increased its lead again in the teams' classification in yesterday's time trial. They are 34.44 ahead of Belkin Pro Cycling! It's the first French outfit to win the teams' classification at the Tour de France in the 21st century.

15:31

Pinot is definitely in white

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) is the best young rider with an advantage of 3.22 over Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale).

15:31

Majka's successful first Tour de France

Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) leads the KOM competition with 181 points at the end of his first Tour de France. Nibali is second with 168 points. There's one point up for grab today at the côte de Briis-sous-Forges (cat. 4) at km 31 but it won't change the final result.

15:26

Sagan close to his record

Peter Sagan (Cannondale) leads the points classification with 417 points. He's four points down on his record of 421 two years ago. Runner up Bryan Coquard and third placed Alexander Kristoff are separated by six points only. It's today's duel!

15:25

It's Nibali's first Tour de France win

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) is on his way to winning the Tour de France for the first time with an advantage of 7.52 over Jean-Christophe Péraud (AG2R-La Mondiale) and 8.24 over Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr).

15:24

Riders on their way

The 164 riders are leaving Evry on their way to the start proper. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has flagged off the race.